This invention relates to inductors and inductor winding schemes.
An inductor has a core and a winding around the core. By inductor we mean to include devices that have only a single winding and others, like transformers, that have more than one winding. When the inductor is to be mounted on a printed circuit board in an application where space is at a premium, it is important to have the inductor occupy only a minimum area on the board and only a minimum overall volume of space. Inductors for such applications typically include a header or carrier with a plastic bobbin around which the windings are wrapped.
One known way to reduce the volume of an inductor is to form the windings as planar elements either directly on the printed circuit board, or on a mylar substrate which may be folded to create the winding.